If ye disclose (acts Of) charity, even so It is well, But if ye conceal them, And make them reach Those (really) in need, That is best for you: It will remove from you Some of your (stains Of) evil. And Allah Is well-acquainted With what ye do.(2:271)

Love Story of A Muallaf

This story has been published in volgo. Jus putting it here for orang di luar kawasan volgo. hehe. its sweet. ke touching. or sad. entahla. even salma herself wept reading it.=p. -aniza

I am truly grateful for being a muslim. Embracing Islam is something I would never regret.My name was Anna. I was born in a religious- Christian practicing family, and I still remember how I never missed going to the church every weekend for the so called Sunday prayers. I could say that my journey to Islam began before I was even aware of it ..Hamid. This was the guy who first showed me the beauty & simplicity of Islam. I knew him by chance, who knows a short conversation at the hostel kitchen connected me with him through bait-al muslim, plus more important thing connected me to the oh-so-syumul Islam! Alhamdullilah.. Thanks to Allah who made the impossible feasible..who showed me this path.

Initially, it was just a coffee-talk (I call it this way because I wasn’t the kind of girl who easily got into friendly conversation with guys). But, the modesty of him somehow gave me a picture that he was so not like any other Russians or Arabs or other foreigners who mingle around girls. I even drank his coffee despite the truth that I never had even a sip of coffee before!

It was a snatch of the conversation when I suddenly became frantically worry, having such talk with someone who was not in the same beliefs with me. Hence I inquired him ‘What’s your religion?’, hoping that he was a Christian-or if he wasn’t, I was gonna make him one. Then Hamid said “Islam!”which made me frown. I didn’t have any idea what Islam was! Some pictures reeled in my mind bad perception about Islam, and the ideas gradually percolated through my empty mind. Good God, Hamid corrected me by explaining about Islam.. a bit and a bit and a bit.. Without realizing it…our chemistry worked right away.

I once invited him to the church, purposely to bring him to Christianity cum testing his Iman. To my shock, I was astounded by the way he agreed-without any doubt. I asked him why, and I became more astonished when he told me “My religion is inside me, it’s in my heart and I am going to prove to you that NOTHING will change my Islam”..and that was the point that changed my perception towards this deen.The Great Islam.

Eventually on that day, we bought a book entitled ‘Christian and other religions’. The book wrote lousy and perverted logic about Islam, our prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. and the muslims. It brought me to a state of shock and shame, regarding the fact that Christian draws massive misconceptions about Islam, but in contrast.. Hamid said that “We respect other religions”. Without any hesitation, I tore the book to shreds.

Since then, I didn’t go to church anymore. Hamid and I discussed Islam, and faith in God, in general, and everything he said made sense to me. Hamid had the patience of angels to deal with my slow thinking and silly questions, but he never gave up hope in me. I asked him what I have to do if I want to convert to Islam. He replied with only one simple word”Syahadah!” . I was surprised, because if we want to be a Christian, we would have to pay to the church, and so the ‘heavenly’ priest can shower us with the so called Holy Water for the baptism ceremony. Furthermore, we even have to pay to get married, and we have to buy the ‘Ikon’ for praying. Basically it’s all about money!!! $$

I asked Hamid how the muslims perform their prayers. He replied, saying that the muslims can pray anywhere they want. It was something really new to me, I learned that this is a sacred land created by Allah The Almighty, it’s not a big fuss bowing on the ground worshipping the God. Compared to Christian, we can only pray in church, or else we have to have the ‘Ikon’ for praying in our own crib!!

Slowly, my mind started to agree with my heart, and I started to picture myself as a Muslim. Eventually, Hamid asked me about the concept of trinity which I was anxious to answer his question because it was something I had been holding for such a long time. I carefully started putting my knowledge into words.. I explained to make him understand-but suddenly I came to an abrupt halt!! My mouth was locked and I couldn’t find the key because my heart finally objected my previous faith..and I didn’t believe in my wisdom anymore. I was completely flummoxed by the whole thing. Subhanallah..

“No, I will not proceed to tell you..” I said, turned away and ran bursting into tears.

From that point, we started to discuss more and more about Islam. About the Holy Quran, The Prophet p.b.u.h I still remember learning ‘Alhamdulillah’ as my very 1st Arabic word. It was still crystal clear in my mind how I wept reading the translation of the Al-Fatihah for the first time. Islam is a religion of peace. It is the natural religion of mankind and has existed since the beginning of time.

I found the truth in myself sooner than I had expected. One day, I read Sura Maryam and felt so near as it is about The Jesus and his mother Mary. At that time, I knew there was no turning back. I could wait no longer . . Trembling, I knocked on Hamid’s door and made the best decision I had ever done in my whole entire life-

“Hamid, I want to embrace Islam”.. and so my mouth was wet with Syahadah for the first time Alhamdulillah~

Alhamdulillah.Salma married Hamid.She’s now living in Cairo,Egypt with him after numerous of tests that only a true believers of Islam can withstand.A true example of Muslims to follow.We pray that Allah will always bless them…